Retail salary survey

At McCarthy we seek to build strong relationships with our candidates, developing relationships based on mutual respect and trust. We want to work with all our candidates to secure for them the best available financial terms from their new employer and, we aim to ensure both candidate and employer are satisfied with any terms that are agreed following a successful application.

Our aim is to only represent you for a position that can offer the salary and benefits package you would accept to move companies. As such, we will be honest and provide you with an understanding of the salary you can expect from a vacancy. If this does not match your expectations, we will talk further about your requirements, and we may recommend that a vacancy is not suitable for you based on the employer offer.

There is a common misconception that consultancies negotiate for the best salary to secure the highest fee - but not McCarthy. This is not how we operate. We will always put your interests first and, at the beginning of our relationship and throughout the recruitment process, you will be asked about your salary and benefits package expectations to ensure we fully understand your requirements.

That’s why we ask all our candidates to be frank, open and honest with us about their current situations and expectations - only then can we advise you appropriately, negotiate the right terms of employment for you and represent you in a professional manner throughout.

At McCarthy Recruitment we have outlined some headline salary information by sector as a guide for our candidates.

Due to the variations between companies and the levels of complexity in the retail industry, fluctuations in salary can be considerable. Salary levels can be affected by location, company policy and specific location difficulties. This data is purely a guide, but we hope it provides a useful base and benchmarking tool.

Fashion

Sales volume of the store largely dictates salary parameters. Turnover varies enormously from high street stores where turnover is often below £3m, to department stores where turnover can be over £80m.

High Street

Out of town volume

Food Multiples

This sector operates in high street as well as the longer established out of town sites. The section managers are the first level of management and manage certain areas of the store, e.g., checkouts, produce, bakery etc. Section managers report into the senior team, specific titles vary between companies.

Turnover of the stores vary enormously, and can reach £100m per annum. Store Managers salaries are dependant on the store turnover, and headcount of the store.

Convenience

Many convenience stores trade long hours, with many open 24 hours. Some of these units are attached to petrol station forecourts. Convenience stores are typically small in size, with small staff numbers. Whilst basket size is much lower, customer count is high as changing shopping patterns have meant more people shop at later times and find the convenience of local stores that offer a good range of products a great feature.

Electrical

Electrical retailers tend to be based in large out of town sites. Turnover of these sites varies enormously and can range from £5m to £50m per annum. At the more junior level salary packages are largely commission driven due to the sales nature of the business environment.

Non Food Multiples

Stores in this area are largely situated on the high street, but are more recently beginning to open in out of town shopping centres. Salaries vary depending on sales and turnover, in a similar way to the food multiples.

Your McCarthy Recruitment Consultant will be able to advise you about any salary issues you may want to talk to us about.